"Asshole! What a bastard! Hiruzen! Let me out!"
Danzo's rage echoed in his mind, but outwardly, he maintained a carefully controlled tone as he spoke to the Third Hokage.
"Hiruzen, I've warned you countless times—Uchiha Sasuke is cunning and dangerous. Now look where we are! I was right all along. The Demon Slayer Corps is gaining too much influence. Even the children in the village are idolizing them, dreaming of joining the Corps instead of becoming ninjas. If we don't act now, soon all they'll talk about is the Demon Slayer Corps, and the ninja way will be forgotten. We need to deal with Sasuke immediately!"
Danzo raised his hand, silencing Hiruzen as he attempted to speak. "No, I know what you're going to say. Yes, he's a noble now, married into the daimyo's family, but that's irrelevant here! This is Konoha, not the City of Fire. Even the daimyo must follow our rules when he steps foot here. We don't need to harm Sasuke—just disband the Demon Slayer Corps, shut down his security company, and close that ridiculous museum of his. That way, the daimyo will have no reason to retaliate against Konoha."
Danzo's words were sharp, calculated, cutting off any retort the Hokage might have had. Hiruzen sighed, a weary smile tugging at his lips.
"Danzo, surely you heard what that ghost said during the battle last night?"
Danzo waved his hand dismissively. "I heard it. But those ghosts were clearly trying to frame me. I had nothing to do with them!"
[No, Hiruzen! I am a ghost! Why won't you listen? I'm right here! I'm a ghost now. Just kill me already! Why are you so slow?]
Hiruzen's expression remained serious as he leaned forward. "I may have misunderstood you in the past, Danzo, but this is no longer about you. The threat we're facing is far bigger than just Uchiha Sasuke. Kibutsuji Muzan isn't targeting just Konoha—he's after the entire ninja world. His strength, his abilities, and his resources... we know next to nothing about them right now. What we fought last night wasn't even him in person, just a weak ghost controlling others from afar."
"What concerns me more is how organized these ghosts are. Where are they hiding? What's their real plan to invade the ninja world?"
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "I understand your desire to deal with Uchiha Sasuke, but now isn't the time. We must focus on this larger enemy lurking in the shadows. And if we must, we'll rely on the Demon Slayer Corps to fight them. Do you understand?"
Hiruzen's words were calm but firm, meant to soothe the brewing storm inside Danzo. Normally, he wouldn't go to such lengths to explain himself, but this time he needed Danzo's cooperation—at least for now.
[Hiruzen, you fool! I'm telling you, I'm a ghost! Sasuke's behind all of this! Kill him, and everything will be solved!]
Danzo clenched his fists, a mix of frustration and reluctance crossing his face. Finally, though begrudgingly, he nodded.
"I understand. For now, I'll step back from acting against Sasuke. But we can't let him operate unchecked. We need to monitor him closely. Every move Sasuke makes is a potential threat, and we cannot afford to lose track of him."
Hiruzen nodded, satisfied with the compromise. "Agreed. I'll leave the task of monitoring Sasuke to you."
Danzo gave a tight smile. "Of course."
[It's over…]
Inside his mind, Danzo's frustration boiled over. Konoha, the village he had spent his life trying to protect and control, was teetering on the edge of disaster—largely due to his own actions.
By entrusting Uchiha Sasuke's surveillance to him, Hiruzen had essentially ensured there would be no real oversight. Konoha would soon lose its grasp on Sasuke completely.
Danzo could already foresee Konoha's inevitable destruction at the hands of this boy.
[Hiruzen, I've done everything I could…]
Konoha had weathered the recent crisis with minimal damage, but the events had ignited intense debate among the villagers. Everywhere, people were talking about what had happened the previous night.
The sudden appearance of the Demon Slayer Corps, and their swift and decisive engagement with the enemy, became the primary topic of conversation. Some villagers, however, voiced suspicion. It seemed too convenient to some that the Demon Slayer Corps had shown up immediately after the ghosts appeared. Could there be a connection between the two? Though some viewed it as a conspiracy, the majority dismissed the theory.
After all, the Demon Slayers could walk in sunlight, and they didn't feed on humans, making them fundamentally different from the ghosts. The villagers were far more captivated by the fact that the members of the Demon Slayer Corps were once ordinary civilians. Yet, after mastering breathing techniques and swordsmanship, they had gained the power to fight the supernatural.
This information wasn't entirely new, but few had witnessed it firsthand.
That all changed after the events of the previous night. The people of Konoha had seen with their own eyes that there was an alternative path to power beyond the way of the ninja.
(End of the Chapter).
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